Café Gratitude to Close Doors

The vegan restaurant is closing its Northern California locations due to lawsuits filed by former employees.

Yesterday, Terces and Matthew Engelhart, co-owners of vegan restaurant Café Gratitude, announced that they will be closing or selling all of Café Gratitude’s Northern California locations. According to Terces Engelhart, the decision to close the seven locations—located in Berkeley, Cupertino, Healdsburg, Oakland, San Francisco, San Rafael, and Santa Cruz—is due to “a series of aggressive lawsuits.” While Engelhart does not explain the nature of the lawsuits, San Francisco news outlet The Bay Citizen reports two suits brought against the Engelharts from former Café Gratitude employees, who cite being deprived of shift breaks, earned tips, and overtime pay. Engelhart says on Facebook that the locations “will be open for at least a few months depending on the sales of our locations.” Gracias Madre, the Engelharts’ vegan Mexican restaurant located in San Francisco, is also for sale; however, Café Gratitude’s Los Angeles location will remain open.